


It’s a dog’s life

by Callmepapi



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Animal Instincts, Bathing/Washing, Biting, Blood, Blood and Injury, Curses, F/M, He just has the mind of a puppy, Healing, Mind Manipulation, Puppy Jaskier, Witch Curses, bear trap, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:13:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26687224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Callmepapi/pseuds/Callmepapi
Summary: Jaskier’s mind turns into that of a puppy’s. Yen has to take care of him.‘Geralt explains that there was an angry mage, a pup on the street and it had given the mage an idea. The idea was now sat before her, sitting on her doorstep with his tongue hanging out his mouth.’
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia & Jaskier | Dandelion, Jaskier | Dandelion/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg
Comments: 4
Kudos: 46





	It’s a dog’s life

**Author's Note:**

> This didn't start out as Yennskier, as always it just became so.
> 
> I wanted to get this out before whumptober started cause imma be swamped at that point lol.
> 
> I don't think there's any warnings, just let me know if you think otherwise lol XD

In jaskier’s defence, the guy  _ did _ say he was single. That was apparently a lie.

At least that’s what Geralt had told her when he’d dropped Jaskier off at her house; a nice house, one of the best she’s found. It’s in Toussaint and it has a sprawling back garden with large oak trees scattered throughout. 

Geralt explains that there was an angry mage, a pup on the street and it had given the mage an idea. The idea was now sat before her, sitting on her doorstep with his tongue hanging out his mouth.

“And why do I get left with him?” Yennefer asked, calmly. She  _ did _ just smoke some herbs so that probably explained her tone… and the fact that she looked baked; her eyes half shut as he stared at them.

“I can’t think of anyone else. He’s driving me nuts, he’s up half the night running! And- every single mud puddle he sees, he jumps into. All his clothes are ruined and I don’t want to be the one he screams at when he turns back and finds out.” Geralt speaks like he’s in disbelief of the chaos that Jaskier has caused.

“Hmm, alright. Just remember to pick him up at some point.” The herbs made her say that. Not the big, blue eyes of Jaskier staring up at her, lips shiny with drool as he pants with his tongue lolling out his mouth.

“Come on, eh- up!” Geralt says and Jaskier is up like a shot. He’s grinning and Yennefer feels exhausted just looking at him, his boundless energy that’s going to keep her up for nights to come.

She sighs, then moves aside and this puppy-brained Jaskier practically runs inside. She watches for a moment, afraid his head will fall from his shoulders with the way it's spinning from side to side, then she turns back to geralt.

“Yen-”

“Goodbye, busy woman, curses to break.” And she slams the door shut. Ah! That basted djinn, continuously bringing them together.

She hears a crash in the kitchen and rushes towards it to see jaskier kneeling on a counter with his arms and head in a cupboard, most obviously eating something.

“Jaskier!” She shouts. He jumps and the tub he was eating from spills from the cupboard. She takes a moment to inspect it and almost shouts at him when she sees that it was actually a healing poultice.

She grabs his shirt at the collar and pulls his head from the cupboard, his knees slide from the counter and he lands on wobbly legs.

“Spit it out! Out!” She shouts, yet Jaskier only makes a motion of licking his lips where the poultice remains, his throat bobbing as he swallows the mixture already in his mouth. Yen let’s go of him and he rushes past her to a different room of the house, leaving her to wallow in the pain she has to receive; late nights, constant lectures and… gods, she’s going to have to bathe him, isn’t she?

Days turn to weeks and weeks to months. It’s not as bad as she thought it would be.

Yennefer realises early on that puppies are trainable, and Jaskier is no different. She has him get her slippers, sometimes she makes him grab food from the kitchen, or herbs for a potion - though she makes it clear that he has to bring these with his hands and not his mouth. She thinks he understands. This is also why she doesn’t turn him back right away, he's practically a servant, and she just has to feed him.

He doesn’t speak, can’t speak. Dogs can’t speak. He does, however, bark and whine and growl. Though the noises are less dog like and more human. His barks sound like random shouts of surprise.

Yennefer thinks that somewhere in his head are his basic human instincts, otherwise he probably wouldn’t understand her as much as he does. Though this doesn’t reach as far as clothes, something that he now despises wearing. And, honestly, yen  _ would _ let him walk around naked, but she knows that Jaskier would have at least a smidge of dignity so they settle on the bare minimum of trousers.

In the afternoon, when jaskier’s tired himself out, he’ll shuffle towards yen and her chaise lounge and practically climb atop her, letting his head drop to her stomach as he sighs contentedly. Then he’ll nose at her stomach until she brings a hand to 

pet and scratch at his head. His hair’s surprisingly soft.

When the sun’s setting she’ll bathe him. No matter what she does he’ll always come back to her dirty, covered in filth, and she has no choice but to get a bath ready for him. It’s not as hard as she thought it would be. She takes off his clothes and he hops into the tub. She’ll hum and rub his hair with soap and Jaskier’s eyes will start to drift shut. She guesses that jaskier’s love of baths can’t be stopped by a curse.

At night when she blows out the candle to sleep, Jaskier will jump up to her bed. He’ll slowly get closer to her, inch by inch, until his mouth is at her neck. Then he’ll nudge her, let his tongue slide across her skin and bite at it gently until Yen gets annoyed and pushes his face away with her hand. He huffs but it doesn’t hold any  _ true _ anger, he just rests his head next to her and sleeps.

They would have fucked if he was human, but yen won’t let herself fall so low as to fuck a… well, a puppy.

The village she’s staying in doesn’t exactly like her. It’s more hatred than fear though and yen suspects that they’ve had a bad experience with a mage before her. Either way it’s no excuse to be setting traps on her property. Especially when it’s Jaskier who falls into them.

He had happily been jumping and swinging from branches, last Yennefer checked. Then that ungodly howl that ripped through to her. She immediately dropped her things and rushed towards it.

It being Jaskier, who now had his ankle caught in a bear trap, blood quickly pooling on the ground as he cried like a wounded animal. He  _ was _ technically.

She acts fast, pulling the trap open with her magic. It’s fairly easy, the traps old and creaky and this would surely be it's last catch. Next she tries to stop the blood flow, he’s gone pale and his cries have turned to soft whimpers as the puddle of blood increases with every second. She does her best, and the blood congeals. Then she carries him as best she can into the house and onto the floor, in front of the fire.

She heals the wound as best she can and he screams when the bone rights itself from where it had jutted out against his leg. Then she applies a poultice, the same one he tried to eat when he was first dropped off, and applies it to the breaks in his skin. She wraps it all in a bandage then sits back to admire her work.

Jaskier’s still shaken. He’s moaning, his head slowly falling from side to side and his eyebrows furrowed. She tuts and gently runs her fingers through his hair, also letting her magic sink in and relieve his pain until the crease in his eyebrows has smoothed out and his breath turns into quiet snores.

She decides then that she needs to break the curse.

So she delves into her books and reads until she can no longer keep her eyes open. Then she wakes up to a bookmarked page specifically about jaskier’ curse. She rereads it and everything becomes clear. Such a silly curse requires a silly cure - true love’s kiss.

She calls Geralt, uses the xenovox he has and explains everything. He chuckles and the line falls silent for a moment.

“Yen, I’m not his true love.”

“What? But I thought…”

“Look, if you want to find his true love then you really won’t have to look that far. Think about that.” And she does. 

She thinks about the nights where Jaskier nips at her skin. When he sleeps next to her on the couch, rolled onto his back, letting his belly show. A vulnerable move in a dog’ mind. When she bathes him and he falls asleep with her hands in his hair.

She takes a moment to actually convince herself to do this, and when she’s convinced, she makes her way towards Jaskier, still sleeping on the rug by the fire.

He’s awoken by the shuffling of her sitting down beside him and his face visibly brightens with a beaming smile. He tries to move his body but lets out a sharp cry when his ankle gets jostled so Yen pushes his shoulders to the ground and hopes that he’ll understand the notion.

Then she waits. She smiles at him as he continuously watches her, his smile grows when she looks his way. She takes a deep breath, then another, then she pinches the bridge of her nose before she finally gives in and just kisses him. Her hand planted next to his head and the other cupping his cheek as she leans over him.

He doesn’t respond, not right away, and she begins to think that she’s read all the signs wrong. But then there’s a gentle grip on the side of her face and his lips are moving with hers. She pulls away and blues eyes look back, a smile playing on his kiss-swollen lips.

She smiles, laughs then kisses him again and he kisses back. The hand in her her grows tighter and he’s rolling her over-

“Ow! Bollocks!” He shouts and yen quickly sits up to check his ankle. It’s fine.

“If you don’t move then it won’t hurt,” she says and he rolls his eyes but his mouth falls into a fond smirk. She kisses him again, long deep and passionate, before pulling away as he speaks.

“Why are there so many bite marks on your neck?”


End file.
